Crescenta Valley played keep-away with Hoover

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — The Glendale YMCA Quarterback Club, in its 68th year, meets Tuesday’s at the Elk’s Lodge. The following are odds and ends from the fifth meeting of the year.

FALCONS GET BEST OF TORNADOES

Crescenta Valley High Coach Paul Schilling and Hoover Coach Chris Long agreed that one of the keys during the Falcons’ 62-28 Pacific League win against the Tornadoes on Friday at Glendale High’s Moyse Field proved to be Crescenta Valley’s ability to chew up the clock and keep Hoover’s offense off the field.

“We knew Hoover would be prepared offensively and they would give us fits,” said Schilling, who said the Falcons lost running back Marro Lee for the remainder of the season because of a broken thumb. “The key in the first half was that Hoover’s offense was hardly on the field.

“I think we had 25 total offensive plays in the first half and Hoover had five and that’s still not enough time to keep their powerful offense off the field.”

Long concurred.

“It was a tough loss for us because, for the first time, we felt like we had a shot at beating CV,” Long said. “We just came out flat against them for the second year in a row. CV’s offense did a great job and it seemed more like they ran 60 plays to our five, but they controlled the clock and did everything right.”

VAQUEROS LOOKING TO TURN TIDE

Glendale Community College dropped to 0-6, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort in its latest defeat.

The Vaqueros suffered a 42-40 home loss to offensive juggernaut L.A. Pierce on Saturday in a Pacific Conference American Division game at Sartoris Field. However, the Vaqueros had an opportunity to tie the game with a two-point conversion in the closing moments.

“They came in ranked fifth in offense in the state and we were 65th in the state in defense,” Glendale college third-year Coach John Rome said. “We fell behind 14 [points] early and then something happened that came away being a positive in that we kept fighting back and refused to quit.

“We made it 42-40 and were forced to go for the two points because we missed an extra point earlier. Then we had an illegal procedure call, putting us back to the 5-yard line and we came up short.

“Once we taste victory, we will win for a while. We just have to get over the hump.”

The Vaqueros have a bye week Saturday before returning to action at 1 p.m. Oct. 23 against West L.A. College in a division road contest.

ROBERTS RETURNS TO HIS CAREER ROOTS

For the fourth year in a row, UCLA radio broadcaster Chris Roberts came back to the club as a guest speaker. On Tuesday, Roberts briefly outlined his career, which began in Glendale with radio station KUTE. Roberts resided in Glendale and still owns property in La Crescenta.

“Glendale is still a special place for me because this is where I had my first job in L.A.,” Roberts said. “I had some great times here before moving on to the Inland Empire, where I did Riverside City College sports and high school sports.”

Roberts traced his rise in the sports broadcasting industry that also included stints at Cal Poly Pomona and Long Beach State before working at KFI for nearly 10 years. He then moved on to UCLA, where he’s called football and men’s basketball contests since 1992.

Roberts spoke on subjects ranging from the broadcasting profession to the current state of football in the Pacific-10 Conference.

“Being the voice of the Bruins is something I don’t take lightly,” Roberts said.

Roberts said the Bruins were not at their best during Saturday’s 35-7 road loss against California.

“Everybody wants to win, but sometimes that doesn’t happen,” Roberts said. “Last week was a disaster and Cal came out ready to go after it.

“UCLA didn’t show up like they did [in wins] against Texas and Houston.”

Roberts added that Oregon and Stanford appear to be the top two teams in the conference.

The Bruins have a bye week before next playing against host Oregon, ranked No. 2 behind Ohio State in the latest Top-25 Associated Press poll, on Oct. 21.

“How can it not be Oregon and they are tough to play at home,” Roberts said. “Stanford is right up there behind Oregon and don’t count out Oregon State.”